The Martial Examination is a Little Early This Year?

Time kept flowing by.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

And in this Martial Academy, aside from the passage of time...

People passed by as well!

The Martial Academy had its rules.

Those who failed to break through to Bright Force within three months...

Had to leave the Martial Academy.

This was the Martial Academy's cruel expulsion, and likewise the kindest warning the Martial Academy could give them.

After all, those who could not even make a charge at Bright Force after three months...

Would only be wasting their own time and their family's silver by staying.

Thinking back to yesterday...

Lin Tian had seen a young man, his face ashen and defeated, being taken away by a pair of elderly women.

Looking at the other party's face...

Lin Tian did remember who he was.

Of course, he had only remembered the other party's appearance.

As for his name?

He did not know.

After all, back when he had been in the Outer Academy, aside from practicing his fists, he had paid no attention to anything else.

And that young man was a new student of the Martial Academy who had arrived a dozen days later than he had.

When he had first arrived at the Martial Academy...

That young man had stood not far from him, diligently practicing martial arts every day.

Only, in less than a month...

That young man had fallen in with Cao Wei and the others.

Then he had become a member of that little group.

After that, his world of martial practice had grown lazier and lazier.

Even after Cao Wei had been injured by Lin Tian and left the Martial Academy...

The other party had already been spending time constantly with the people from that little group.

Although Lin Tian had rarely paid attention to matters in the Outer Academy after entering the Inner Academy...

In Lin Tian's memory, whenever Lin Tian saw that young man...

The other party was always staying together with the people from that little group.

It was said that yesterday, he had attempted to break through to Bright Force and failed.

No, it was not just that he had failed.

He had even only barely managed to perform the most basic act of stirring his blood qi.

When a martial artist broke through a pass...

The most important thing was to move the blood and qi of the entire body, then condense the power of Bright Force within one's own body.

Yet the other party had been unable to do even the simplest stirring of blood and qi.

Clearly, he had not earnestly tempered his blood and qi on ordinary days.

The final result was...

Even by the time he failed, the other party still had not realized what had happened.

Then, for the entire day, he had sat slumped in a corner of the Outer Academy as if all color had been drained from him.

Afterward, it was someone he knew who went to his home and informed the two elders of his family.

Only then was he taken away...

As usual, Lin Tian entered the Martial Academy to cultivate.

As for the current situation in the Outer City...

Lin Tian had also learned a thing or two from Bao Tianhua.

Supposedly, because the Water Bandits were growing ever more rampant...

The county city's Commandery Captain's Office had already led troops to prevent and suppress the scourge of the Water Bandits.

Although the number of troops sent out was not large...

The deterrent effect they produced was real and solid.

Especially for a remote place like Jinghe Bend.

There had been almost no trace of the Water Bandits appearing again.

At first, Lin Tian had only thought things were starting to get better.

But as time passed, Lin Tian seemed to sense something was wrong.

With the Commandery Captain's Office making its appearance, those Water Bandits had not merely left fewer traces.

They had vanished completely and utterly without a sound.

Whether it was a remote place like Jinghe Bend, or the prosperous stretches along the riverbank, all traces of the Water Bandits had disappeared!!

That was very wrong.

After all, the Commandery Captain's Office had only sent out a small portion of its troops.

If those Water Bandits truly feared the Commandery Captain's Office, then they would never have dared show their faces before—that would have made sense.

So with such abnormal behavior, Lin Tian immediately realized

that either the Water Bandits truly feared the strength of the Commandery Captain's Office, or the other side was holding back something big!

Once the time was ripe, they would launch an all-out attack!

Given the current situation, Lin Tian, with none of his past assumptions, leaned even more toward the latter.

So the gravity in Lin Tian's eyes not only did not lessen with the disappearance of the Water Bandits, it instead grew increasingly urgent because of their disappearance.

He looked at the Fate Grid in his mind.

Fate Grid · Learning Leads to Success

Mountain-Shaking Fist (Limit-Breaking) 8543/10000

Demon-Subduing Golden Body (Bronze Garment) 5834/12000

Right now, he was probably only about half a month away from that so-called Transformation Force.

He hoped those Water Bandits would not act so quickly.

If they launched their move after the Martial Examination, perhaps he would be able to keep his family safe...

As he thought this, the fist art in Lin Tian's hands grew faster and faster.

But just then—

Creak.

The door to the Side Courtyard was pushed open.

Zhao Cang slowly walked out from inside.

The disciples in the Inner Academy naturally lined up neatly before him in unison.

Seeing that no one was missing, Zhao Cang nodded, then said, "I just received news. This year's Martial Examination has been moved forward a little."

"It's set for half a month from now."

Everyone was stunned the moment they heard this.

But they did not show much intention of discussing it.

They quietly waited for what Zhao Cang would say next.

They knew that every year, half a month before the Martial Examination began, they had to enter the Martial Examination Plaza and go through the motions.

And this formality was to have those who would be participating in this year's Martial Examination head to the site of this year's exam.

First, to familiarize themselves with the venue.

Second, to meet the subordinate examiners.

That was right. During this process, they would also be able to meet one or two of the chief examiners for this Martial Examination.

And naturally, this could not merely be a matter of taking a look.

Lin Tian had reportedly heard that during this walkthrough, they could even go onto the stage and spar with others in martial arts.

It counted as a warm-up.

And this warm-up was not merely a simple warm-up.

After all, even if it was only a warm-up, it was still possible for the examiners to see it.

If someone performed outstandingly at a time like this, then during the Martial Examination, they would naturally gain a few extra impression points.

However, Lin Tian figured he likely would not have such an opportunity.

Because at a time like this, the ones who generally took the stage were the most outstanding disciples under the various Martial Academy instructors.

Or rather, the disciples most valued by their masters.

In other words, when the time came, even if someone had to go up, it would only be Xiao Tian.

And this time, since the group had moved things forward by half a month, that meant today, they would be heading to the place in the Inner City where the Martial Examination would be held to go through this formality.

Very soon, Zhao Cang announced the news without any surprise.

Zhao Cang also told the disciples to prepare themselves properly, as they were about to set off for the Inner City.

Looking at Zhao Cang leaving before him, Lin Tian's heart filled with thoughts.

Clearly, for him, this Martial Examination being brought forward by half a month had completely thrown his original rhythm into chaos.

In that case, did that not mean he could no longer make his push into Transformation Force before the Martial Examination arrived?

However, Lin Tian naturally did not pay too much mind to this.

Of course, even if he did mind, it would be useless.

As the carriage sped along, Lin Tian and the others soon arrived at Martial Examination Plaza.

Of course, this Martial Examination Plaza was only the plaza where Lin Tian and the others would be taking the Martial Examination next.

And within this Inner City, there was not only this one Martial Examination Plaza.

After all, there were many people from both the Inner City and the Outer City participating in the Martial Examination.

They could not all be crammed together for the test, could they?

Of course, this was only the case for the first test of the Martial Examination.

After the screening of the first test, those who could enter the second round would still be gathered in one place to undergo the second test of the Martial Examination...

Very soon, everyone got off the carriage.

Zhao Cang looked at the positions of the disciples behind him.

Then he said, "Xiao Tian, come up to the very front. Lin Tian, move farther back."